It's time to say goodbye to the EU

​Why should we leave? Because last year alone Britain paid an enormous £13bn in EU membership fees – 7 per cent of the total NHS budget for that year. This money could have been spent on other things in this country, for example public transport, which is under significant pressure at the moment. It could also be spent on public services such as education and health, where extra funding could even prevent the junior doctor strikes and save lives.

Another reason we should leave the EU is the fact that as Britain is already a huge financial centre, we could easily get rid of ridiculous EU regulations and survive on our own, creating a supercharged economy. This could have a knock-on impact on other EU countries too as we are one of the EU’s most powerful economies and if we leave, their finances may be devastated. If we leave it could also lead to anti-EU movements in other countries becoming more popular. This could lead to other counties leaving, causing the ultimate collapse of the whole Union. This could produce fantastic consequences for Britain as we would be seen as a safe haven from the risks of declining Eurozone countries, attracting many important investors, which would boost the value of the pound.Immigration is also a growing issue in the UK as millions from the EU have access to our jobs market and we have no current right to refuse their entry. However, if we left, the Government would be able to choose who could come in and work here.

Many say that leaving the EU would mean much less cooperation with the EU, such as not exchanging criminal records or working together on counter-terrorism, but this is an absolutely absurd suggestion as the EU wouldn’t put their citizens, or the UKs citizens, at greater risk.If we stay in the EU there is also no way to help our steel industry or other manufacturers and if they shut down, there would be enormous job losses that would utterly destroy communities. It would also slow our total economic growth. This would be particularly bad as the EU already has problems with high unemployment and sluggish growth.

Some think that staying in the EU will be better because we have a lot of trade within Europe, however we could make this up elsewhere. Currently, in the EU, we are not free to back other international trade agreements. If we left the EU we would be free to make deals with countries such as China, India and US, which would help financial and manufacturing businesses make a much larger profit.You might not think that the EU affects the country greatly, but you’re wrong – they even control the fishing rights around our own coast. It’s time to leave and take control of country again.​Jake Cummins, Year 10